It looks like we’ve hit another 7” requirement with very few solutions. Any more of these requests and i’m going to go out there and make my own UMPC and sell it to you all!

Mike contacted me to see if he could get some suggestions for an extremely mobile computer. It’s one that needs a full MS office suite and also needs to do duty as a support system in a light aircraft.

Here’s the breakdown.

·As an IT manager I use the MS Office suite, MS Project, MS Visio, and Firefox to do my job.

· I also travel by small plane for work and I need a unit that runs Windows so that I can use my flight navigation software (www.anywheremap.com)

·The yoke (steering wheel of the plane) can only accommodate a unit with an 8.9 inch screen without blocking critical flight instruments – 7 inches provides the best fit

·When I land at the local airport I often use a car GPS for street navigation.

·I don’t use my computers for gaming or video editing, but I do need to have reasonably snappy performance in the office environment.

That’s a clear requirement. 7”, Windows and wallop! right into the no-devices zone.

I initially thought about leading with a device that had GPS installed but that can be problematic. In my car there’s a UV filter on the screen and it kills reception. Where reception is critical, a well-positioned GPS puck is going to be the answer. Bluetooth isn’t the most reliable of connectivity mechanisms but once set-up, it does work.

Now that we don’t need the built-in GPS, we’ve widened our scope ….

I’m looking at the Libretto W100/W105 as I did in the last CCC. Mike is in situations where power is likely to be available and in the plane he can use a power brick. Do they have cigarette lighters in small planes though?! As with our previous CCC, there’s also the Q1 Ultra Premium (2nd-hand) and the Viliv S7 convertible. It’s got a faster SSD, good battery life and is available with 3G. It might not have the oomph to run Windows 7 though. The same goes for the Viliv X70 EX

It’s the Windows requirement I want to get right in the suggestion though. A UMPC running Windows 7 really needs a fast SSD, a 1.6Ghz CPU and, preferably, 2GB RAM.  It’s why I keep thinking about the Libretto W100 but then there’s the screen area to think about on that. It could be too big!

I’ve got three more to offer-up though. (Click images for more info)

HP Slate 500. 8.9” screen. 1.8ghz CPU. SSD.  Includes dual-layer screen. The HP 500 does seem to be satisfying most people that buy it. At 1.8Ghz it’s got just enough more than a 1.5Ghz Z-series Atom, along with an SSD, to make Windows 7 work smoothly. Here are some more thoughts on the HP Slate 500.

Panasonic CF-U1. It’s an expensive rugged 7”-er ($2K entry price) but it’s a seriously good bit of kit.  It only has a 7” screen but it’s a fairly bulky 7” device.

Netbook Navigator Nav 7 (or even Nav 9). I heard from Netbook Navigator yesterday that the Nav 7 is about ready to launch and I’ve just put all the details of this one in the database. Obviously you’ll need to wait for some reviews before committing but it certainly looks compact enough. Unfortunately there’s no docking station or VGA / HDMI out but from your email, Mike, I see you’ve been using a USB-based docking station anyway. This might work for you. I’ll be writing more about the Nav 7 in an upcoming article. [Available here when posted]

So, Mike. What do you think? Will an 8.9” device work for you (HP Slate 500) or are you determined to go for a 7” device? Are you OK without VGA? Do you want laptop-style processing power?

Chime-in with comments people. Mike needs help!

Let’s say you need a UMPC. It’s not as uncommon as some people think. It might not be the consumers cup of tea but in industry, mobility counts for a lot. Logistics, amateur pilots, health industry, blue-light industry, traveling geeks and other situations where full capability, compatibility and flexibility in the smallest package is key. The problem is, if you need a UMPC today, what the hell are you going to buy?

Lets put down a little wish-list for the sake of the argument.

Sub-1KG, Windows 7 support, 5hrs battery life 5-8.9” screen, easy conversion to keyboard/screen device. Price under $1000.

The shortlist I would recommend right now would be the following but they are all ‘last-gen’ UMPCs, at least a year old and going out of stock, and probably entering the end-of-life phase.

• Fujitsu UH900
• Sony Vaio P
• Viliv N5
• Viliv S7
• Viliv X70
• Archos 9 (with SSD, 1.2Ghz)
• UMID mbook SE – Thx to Gearsguy for the information on the availability and videos. I’ve included one of the videos below.

If you need a keyboard, the mbook SE, UH900 and N5 are worth a look. The Archos 9 is good value at under 450 Euro right now and the X70 is a great performer. Isn’t it underwhelming that these devices are all over a year old though.

One device I took a second look at was the Toshiba Libretto W100. Originally this device was available for 1100 Euro. Today, it’s under 600 Euro in Europe making it an interesting option because of its CPU – Pentium Dual-Core U5400 with 2x 1.20GHz that comes in at about 130% the processing power of a high-end dual-core Atom part. It also includes 2048MB Ram and a 62GB SSD. This is certainly an ultra mobile workhorse but the design and battery life are going to be issues for some. 3hrs isn’t that exciting.  Interestingly this could make a super ultra-mobile video editing platform.

This dearth of options in this space is because of two things. Firstly, Menlow is out and Oaktrail isn’t yet in. There isn’t really another platform to think about right now although I’ve got my eye on AMDs Z-01 We’re going to have to wait for a set devices on Oaktrail for another few months. The other issues is the 10” tablet craze. It puts designs at around the 1KG mark and limits usability. The Viliv X70 is one to keep an eye out for but based on the silence from Viliv, I’m guessing it’s not close to being available yet.

Widening your choices

Netbooks, starting at about 1.2KG (2.6lb) and large-format Windows tablets (again 1.2KG when a keyboard is added) along with 5~ and 7~ Android tablets and the iPad2 all need consideration. Even the >4” Android phones with the latest CPUs. As Meego filters in, keep an eye on that too as it spans mobile and desktop environments. Finally, Honeycomb and WebOS are operating systems to watch. Personally I have high hopes for Honeycomb as one of the more flexible operating systems to cross-over into a productive and flexible environment and that could happen on either ARM or Intel.

Choosing a platform for 2012

Oaktrail – Intel’s Z6xx series. We’ve seen it running Windows, Android and Meego already, it will run Chrome OS and there should be forward compatibility with Windows 8 making it, in my opinion, one of the most interesting ultra-mobile platforms out there right now. Intel builds of Honeycomb and Meego should be able to squeeze more battery life out of it too. There’s a 2X graphics improvement over Menlow (GMA600 vs. GMA500) and even hardware 720p video encoding which could speed up video rendering. At 1.5Ghz, it’s not the most CPU-powerful platform but Intel have already talked about 1.8Ghz versions and I’m sure, if the platform becomes popular, we could see dual-core versions too. Why Oaktrail and not Cedar Trail? Because it’s got power management capabilities that Cedar Trail hasn’t got.

Waiting for Sandy Bridge.

Sandy Bridge in ultra-low-voltage guise is very interesting. I recently tested an AMD-E350 based Lenovo S205. It was good. It’s TDP (CPU+GPU) is 18W and the CPU performance is high-end Atom level. Sandy bridge, on the other had also comes in 17W TDP variants but the CPU performance on these simply blows Atom, E-Series Fusion and even first-gen Core parts out of the water. with around 5x the CPU performance of an Atom CPU along with some good GPU performance. Price is high as we’ve seen with the Samsung Series 9 but that devices comes in at 1.3KG with 6hrs of battery life and serious compute power. It’s a sign that Ultrabooks could push down in to even smaller and lighter designs.

My plan. What’s yours?

Today I sold my last netbook / laptop. Over the last few months I’ve been having a clear-out and now I’m left completely without any sort of mobile productivity device. It’s a nice position to be in but it’s going to be a tough decision. Right now I’m favouring the Samsung TX100 / Gloria / PC7 Slider on Oaktrail because I’m interested in Oaktrail performance and multi-OS scenarios. I’m worried about the CPU performance though. I’m also looking carefully at that Toshiba W100/W105 show above. I think I can run PowerDirector video editing suite on that and get some usable 720p rendering speeds that should be 2x what the Oaktrail platform can produce. Finally, Samsung have another very interesting product in the Series 9 laptop on Core i5 Sandy Bridge. It’s an expensive item but a real mobile workhorse. And why am I looking at all these laptop-style devices? Because after spending 7 months with the Galaxy Tab I’ve found that there are fewer things I need to do on a laptop now and those things generally involve high-productivity working with Video, Images and multiple windows. The 7” tablet has filled a great position but along with my new requirement to product 720p videos, has pushed up my requirements for a laptop.

I know there are a lot of designers, manufacturers and resellers that read UMPCPortal so this one is for you. Potential Windows 7 Slate customers should also read this. In fact, as a reviewer, I’m learning from this White Paper too!

Windows 7 Engineering Guidance for Slate PCs.

Windows for Devices have reproduced an extremely useful white paper by Microsoft that gives detailed information about what Windows 7 can bring to Slate PCs (note – Microsoft aren’t using the ‘Tablet PC’ term!) and how designers should think about everything from ergonomics and electronics. Windows 7 is one of the only operating systems that provides the Full Internet Experience with a productivity focus and a touch-enabled user interface. It may not be the sexiest but as of today, nothing can touch it for desktop-style productivity.

There are some obvious tips that are useful for designer and buyer…

• “Provide 2 gigabytes of memory on CPU-constrained and GPU-constrained systems.” [which applies to Menlow, Pine Trail and Oak Trail designs in my opinion - Chippy]
• “Slate PCs should use solid-state drives (SSDs) to enable lower power consumption and high reliability in a mobile environment. SSDs also have greater performance than most traditional platter drives.”
• Battery life should exceed 4 hours under normal operating conditions.

…and some not-so-obvious tips…

• To get a Windows 7 hardware logo on a device bigger than 10.2” you need to support DirectX 10
• Ensure handgrip regions are designed away from heat dispersion and venting.
• Biometric logon — Consider including a fingerprint reader for improved ease of access for logon and security scenarios.

The document is rich with advanced tips and inks and is also a recommended read for anyone considering buying a WIndows 7 ‘slate’. Clearly, with Microsoft pushing Windows 7 into this area, with OakTrail offering a super low-power platform and the general slate/pad/tablet wave of interest we’re seeing at the moment, there will be an increased number of offerings in the late 2010 and 2011 timeframe.

Additional information can be found in my article: Things to Consider when Designing or Buying a Tablet-Style Device

Windows for Devices – WIndows 7 Engineering Guidance for Slate PCs

I had hoped to get a big big updated version of the mobile computing guide out before the end of 2009 but time was definitely not on my side. I’ve done a lot of work on it but it’s going to take many more hours before it’s finished. In the meantime, the late 2008 version is still available as a re-flowable PDF and is still worth reading if you’re thinking about buying a mobile computer, tablet, MID or other mobile computing device this year.

Click on the image to download the free 28-page PDF.

PDF now removed. New version of this book is planned for Q4 2010

If you want to view it online, use the links below.

Part One: ‘What is an Ultra Mobile PC.’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.

Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’ It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.

Part Three ‘Details and Choices continued‘ continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.

Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.‘ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

If you find the buyers guide useful, think about donating. It all goes back into making UMPCPortal a better place.

About 3,000 of you have already downloaded the Ultra Mobile Computing Guide that we published last month and the links have long-gone from the front page so here’s a quick ‘highlight’ article, just in case you missed it.

Click on the image to download the free 28-page PDF.The PDF has now been removed. A new issues of the guide will be released in Q4 2010. If you want to view the 2008 version online, use the links below.

Part One: ‘What is an Ultra Mobile PC.’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.

Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’  It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.

Part Three ‘Details and Choices continued‘ continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.

Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.‘ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

Most of you will know about Pocketables.net, a well-written and highly-recommended journal of all things ‘gadgety’ and ‘pocketable’ run by Jenn Lee. If you don’t know about it, now is your chance because we’ve teamed up with Pocketables to enhance and share the product database to bring you ‘Pocketables Products.’

Not only does this increase the number of partners now adding, managing and sharing products and links in the database (Liliputing and JKKMobile are already part of the network of sites that contribute) but it brings a whole new category of pocketable devices to the database. We’ve enhanced the database which has allowed Pocketables to add an exclusive range of Digital Audio Player devices to the database. 167 of them when I checked a few minutes ago and this is in addition to the 200+ MIDs, UMPCs and Netbooks. Perfect for Cyber Monday shopping! You’ll find an introduction to the new feature at Pocketables in this article.

The product database, run by Carrypad, the company that runs UMPCPortal, is now 2.5 years old and  contains product details for over 350 devices and includes a continuously updating, hand-reviewed ‘river of links’ out to important news, reviews and resources in other parts of the Internet. The latest partnership with Pocketables highlights how niche product bloggers can unite to provide extra value for both their sites and their customers. Carrypad will continue to look for high-quality product bloggers with a view to expanding the range and improving the quality further. We’ve already started work with two new partners and hope to announce these in the next months so if you run a high-quality blog or website about consumer products and are interested in partnering with us in either a passive or active way, get in touch. We’re also seeking investors for this product so that we can take it to the next level and provide even more features, more reliability, faster results, better support and faster turnaround for partners. Contact us here for further information.

To all the websites, companies and visitors that I’ve learned so much from in the last few years, here’s something back. The 5-part, 11,000 word, 28-page Ultra Mobile Computing Buyers Guide as a single re-flowable PDF file.

Click the image to download the PDF.  (850kB)

(Right-Click and choose ‘Save Link As’ to save direct to  your PC)

Welcome to Part 4 of the Ultra Mobile Computing Buyers Guide. The final part is titled ‘Additional Information and further reading’ and ties up the lose ends by going over some of the less commonly found features. We also give you a big reading list.

We feel we’ve done a good job on it and covered a lot of ground and a good level of detail but if you want to see additional content or make corrections, please let us know in the comments below. We’ll consider adding it to the next issue which will be published during the summer of 2009.

If you enjoyed the series, please consider promoting it by linking, digging, sharing or highlighting in some way.

Buyers Guide posts:

• Introduction
• Part One: ‘What is Ultra Mobile Computing?’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.
• Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’  It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.
• Part Three continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.
• Part Four (below) ‘Additional Information and further reading.’ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

The compete series will be published next week as a free PDF or e-book for non-commercial use. If you would like to use it for commercial purposes, please contact us to discuss.

Read on …

Read the full story

Welcome to Part 3 of the Ultra Mobile Computing Buyers Guide. ‘Details and Choices’ continues today with a look into some options that will be as critical to the buyer as form factor or keyboard. The CPU and GPU options, battery and weight. We also take a look at the cost of an Ultra Mobile computer.

Buyers Guide posts:

• Introduction
• Part One: ‘What is Ultra Mobile Computing?’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.
• Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’  It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.
• Part Three (below) continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.
• Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.’ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

Read on …

Read the full story

Welcome to Part 2 of the Ultra Mobile Computing Buyers Guide. ‘Details and Choices.’ I this part we get into details about some of the most important parts of the Ultra Mobile Device starting with the form factors and possibly the most important aspect of all, the keyboard.

Buyers Guide posts:

• Introduction
• Part One: ‘What is Ultra Mobile Computing?’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.
• Part Two (below): ‘Details and Choices.’  It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.

Coming later this week:

• Part Three continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.
• Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.’ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

Read on …

Read the full story

Welcome to part 1 of the 4-part Ultra Mobile Computing Buyers Guide – What is an Ultra Mobile Computing?

Introduction

Part One: ‘What is Ultra Mobile Computing?‘ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.

Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.‘  It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.

Part Three ‘Details and Choices (contd.)‘ continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.

Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.‘ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

Also available as a single document in PDF format.

Read the full story

In the last two years we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of mobile computing choices. From high-end pro-mobile mini-laptops to tiny, pocketable devices that you can take anywhere. Even the smartphone segment has developed to the point where it crosses-over and now offers real mobile computing possibilities. The number of variants has grown to the point where there is a device for everyone but the downside is that choosing and buying process becomes more and more difficult . The UMPCPortal Ultra-Mobile Computing buyers guide is here to help you make your choice.

This guide, now in its third edition, will introduce you to the concepts and the options, go into detail about the technology and ultimately, help you decide if you need a mobile computing device and if so, which type of device you should be looking for. The 2008 guide has been updated with information about MIDs and Netbooks, information on the latest CPUs and technology and includes even more hints and tips about buying an Ultra Mobile Computer. It’s a very long report so we’ve split it up into four parts that will be posted each day this week. In a final post next week, we’ll pull all the pieces together into a PDF or E-book so that you can download it and keep it as a reference.

Part One: ‘What is an Ultra Mobile PC.’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.

Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’  It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.

Part Three ‘Details and Choices continued‘ continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.

Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.‘ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

We hope you enjoy the guide and that it helps you make informed choices. It will be published under Creative Commons license so feel free to share and reproduce it for non-commercial use.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Germany License.

The requests for help keep coming in faster than I can deal with them so whatever I do now, some people are going to be sensing emails that go unanswered. I’m sorry! The only thing I can say is that you should try the forum where there are a bunch of knowledgeable people happy to answer questions. In the meantime, I’ll try and plod through as many as I can.

CCC 20. John.

I’m looking at a $300-450 USD price range. Mini-notebook form factor. It will spend most of its time on my lap (60%), some time on desks/tables (30%) and occasionally in my hand (10%). Mostly looking to use it for editing documents, web browsing, watching an occasional video, taking notes in class, instant messaging, and email. Battery life needs to be pretty good. I’m guessing maybe 4+ hours. Needs to have solid wifi connectivity. Touchscreen would be cool, but I doubt it would fit in my price range. I’m not sure whether or not I should get SSD or just get a HDD and leave options for 2.5 SSD upgrade down the road.

This should be fairly easy. Editing documents + 4hrs + solid wifi = Eee PC 1000 [MSI Wind does but the wifi module is slightly better on the 1000H. Both can be bought with SSD, HDD, Linux and XP variations but if video if in your mix, you’ll want to be storing a clutch of videos on an HDD. For some commentary on the finer differences between the MSI Wind and the 1000H, see these two great post by Brad Linder and Kevin Tofel.

CCC 21 below…

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Its late on Thursday and I’ve got about 24 hours to go to get through another 20 Chippy’s Customer Challenge requests! There’s no way I’m going to achieve that so I’ll either carry on next week or start to incorporate them into the Ultra Mobile Podcast. I don’t want any of you to go without at least a few lines of input from me and some thoughts from the readers.

CCC 18. Vikenty

Vikenty has a two-part request for a MID and a small mobile phone. Usage: Browser, easy document editing, IP-video-phone, video playback in 350g or less with WiMax…….SCREEEEECH!

I need to stop right there because currently there is only one pocketable device with WiMax and that’s the Nokia N810 Wimax. Vikenty asked for GPS (check), WebCam (check), IP-phone (check)and Windows XP (Bzzzt!) All is not lost though because a lot of the MIDs will be modular. For example, the Viliv S5 might come with GPS and WiMax in certain markets (I’m told.) The problem is that it doesn’t have a keyboard. In fact, trying to put ‘easy document editing’ and ’350g or less’ in a single device is going to be very difficult. Vikenty, I don’t think there’s anything I can recommend to you at this stage. To get the keyboard in a device that weight is going to be an engineering challenge for at least another 12 months and even then, XP might not be available anymore. The best I can recommend is that you keep an eye on the Viliv S5 and look for a small foldable keyboard to go with it. As for the mobile phone, it really depends on what you want to do with it. I’m a big fan of the Nokia N-series because of their outstanding ability to create images and video but if that’s not your thing then maybe a small, basic feature phone? I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on the phone choice. Sorry!

CCC 19. Andrew

Looking to replace a Powerbook with a mini notebook…My old Powerbook G4 12in is still good to use, but a smaller and lighter machine would be nice.  Convertible but rugged touchscreen device with ‘cool and quiet’ features and a 9in screen that provides 1024×768 or greater resolution to run Firefox, Office and development apps. 4 hours battery life, Linux friendly chipset. Weight: 1KG. Price: Under 600 pounds.

It doesn’t get any easier does it There’s only three devices that I can think of here. The Gigabyte M912X, the Kohjinsha SX3 and the end-of-line Fujitsu P1610. Unfortunately the M912V isn’t the coolest kid on the block and at 1.35KG with a 3hr, 3-cell battery, it’s not going to get close to the 1KG mark. Fortunately the P1610  could fit the bill. I’m seeing it in Europe for about 750 Euros (just under the 600 pounds mark) but I haven’t seen it in the UK for that price yet which means having to buy from somewhere like Germany and replace the OS and keyboard. Not so easy! Keep an eye out for offers in the UK as this gets cleared to make way for the P1620 and P1630. Don’t worry about it being ‘old’ because its still got great specs compared to today’s netbooks. 1280×800 screen. Intel (Linux friendly!) Core Solo with 945 chipset and 60GB drive. Watch out for memory upgrade costs and don’t forget to look for the extended battery that you’ll need to reach 4 hours. As for the SX3, you might get lucky and find an import for around 600 pounds but you’ll definitely need the extended battery. It runs Vista in a rather unimpressive fashion but there’s a possibility in the next few months that an XP downgrade is achievable with new drivers but its not Linux friendly right now (although Ubuntu might be building Poulsbo support into their April ’09 Ubuntu-Mobile release.)

You’ve highlighted a bit of a dark spot in the Ultra Mobile product spectrum here Andrew because I’ve been trying to think of a non touchscreen device that fits your bill. Does anyone know of a non touchscreen 8.9" device that’s ‘cool and quiet’ with a hi-res screen? The HP2133 has the screen but it isn’t cool and quiet from what I’ve read. Maybe Andrew should look to Ultra Portable devices with bigger screens?

I’ve been trying to work out what the most popular device would be to serve all the CCC requests I’ve had but it’s really hard. If I was an OEM designing a UMPC, MID or Notebook I’d be pushed to come up with a design that would suit even 30% of the people wanting a solution.  Take these two for example…

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If there’s one thing that’s clear, its that peoples ideal devices and ideal scenarios differ wildly. From the CarPC to the mobile office through sofa-surfer and travelers companion.  Its encouraging to see people really focusing on their requirements though because this is the first thing you need to get clear before you buy a UMPC. Here’s three more customer challenges after the ‘is that a UMPC in your pocket’ images…

      
2", 4", 4.8", 4.8" (in hand,) 7" and…

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We continue with the Q&A session with a challenge from A Nonymous (!)

CCC 10. A Nonymous.

Mr N is looking for a mini notebook or convertible tablet as an ‘all-round replacement’ capable of serious document reviewing, playing CDs/DVDs. Mr Nonymous sums-up by saying it should be a ‘home office which can be carried on the road.’ Price range, 600 – 1200 (US dollars assumed)

Wow! You don’t ask for much do you Mr N. I assume you want it all-in one so we’re basically looking at a small laptop here with a 10" minimum screen. 10" is not only a comfortable screen size at 1024×600 (good enough for most work) but it allows the design to include a comfortable sized keyboard. I’m sorry to say that there’s really nothing in the UMPC or netbook range (10", sub $1000, sub 1.5KG) that’s going to satisfy you but if we reach outside the pricing bracket bracket, we’ll find devices from Panasonic and Sony that include DVD writers. If the LG C1 was cheaper and readily available, I’d recommend it as it’s a peach of a 10" pro-mobile device. The ASUS U2E is similar though and prices have dropped right down in the last 3 months. I should also mention the Kohjinsha SX3 which has an 8.9" screen but it lacks processing power. If you can bring yourself to separate the DVD player out to a USB device then you open the door to some possibilities but I’m not going to recommend the Atom platform for Vista-office-on-the-road work. Its possible but not ideal and in most cases you’ll have to upgrade memory.  Keep an eye out for Flybook V5 price reductions though. Keyboard and screen are slightly smaller but you’ll get a hi-res convertible touchscreen, 1.8mbps HSDPA modem, 2G RAM, fingerprint reader and lovely styling. I’m hearing rumors that prices will get cut on these soon.

CCC 11. Suresh

I’m looking for a UMPC to install in my new Jaguar XKR Convertible! Requirements are: Screen size between 5 and 9 inches, finger touch screen, Vista compatibility (for running Vista Media Center,) Convertible (i.e. hide keyboard when in Slate mode). The device will run Vista Media Center, Browser and GPS based navigation. Needs to have a powered USB port to connect large hard drive with all my music.

OK, apart from giving me too much info about the car (!) this looks like a fun project although I’ll say up-front that running an desktop OS in a car is not the safest thing to be doing. I’ve done it myself but it’s dangerous so make sure you look at software like Centrafuse and read the MP3car.com forums before you really decide to go the desktop-software route. If you’re looking at Media Center under Vista, you’re going to need graphics power. I’ve never really used a UMPC that’s worked smoothly with Vista Media Center although something like the Flybook V5 (there it is again) with its discreet graphics solution will probably work well. I’d recommend you look at the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium too though. Although it doesn’t have the graphics power of the Flybook, its got great laptop-class CPU power that will certainly help to provide a smooth UI experience. You can get mounting kits for it too and the bright soft-touch screen and tablet form factor will work very well in a car.

CCC 12. Will

Will’s going travelling; For a year! I don’t want to lug around a laptop, however, I intend to do some writing, blogging online, a bit of photo work etc. while I’m seeing the world. I enjoy playing games and things, but realistically aren’t fussed on that. So if you could help me out on a recommended UMPC that would be great.

This question came up with my Sister just last week. She’s planning a 6-month tour and I told her she needed a PC to blog and communicate with. In the end though, we decided it would never make it back as the risk of theft was too high. So, when travelling, make sure you take regular backups Will! If this was me, I’d be looking at something at under 800gm. Preferably under 600gm. I’d make sure it didn’t have many moving parts too so that means SSD and fixed-hinge (tablet is good but you risk breaking the screen.) It would need a lot of battery life, XP (for stability) and a minimum 7" screen. The new Raon Digital Everun S16S (available Nov) could be right up your street although its an unknown quantity in terms of build quality. You’ll have to upgrade it to XP too but that should be easy. The 7" screen and surprisingly good keyboard is enough for hour-long tabletop sessions and it’s tiny enough to pack away almost anywhere. Get a good case for it though. It’s got an SDHC card slot (for a handful of SDHC cards from your camera or for backup) and Raon do a nice external charger solution. Buy the charger and a spare battery and you’re able to charge one battery while you use the other. Spare battery is a must though as the battery life is only around 2.5hrs. Also note that the Everun takes a long time to charge, presumably because it’s got a huge single-cell battery. I’ve heard that Raon will be building in an external antenna connector too so if it’s true, you’ll be able to get a strong external antenna for fringe areas. Note that the power adaptor is big so you’ll have to look for an alternative solution there.

If the size and unknown build quality of the Everun puts you off, I’d have to say, Eee PC 901 XP (With 12GB SSD.) Its well-built, has superb battery life, has a good track record so far, is cheap and is easy to work with. Its about 40% heavier than the Raon Digital Everun but at 1.2kg’s its not exactly huge. The bigger screen will be easier to work with over longer periods.